I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2785 

To amend the Telecommunications Act of 1996 to preserve and protect 

the ability of State and local governments and public-private partnerships 

to provide broadband services. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 16, 2019 

Ms. ESHOO (for herself, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. THOMPSON of California, and Ms. 

PINGREE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Telecommunications Act of 1996 to preserve 

and protect the ability of State and local governments 

and public-private partnerships to provide broadband 

services. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Community Broadband 

5 Act of 2019’’. 


pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 2785 IH

1 SEC. 2. STATE, LOCAL, AND PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP 

2 BROADBAND SERVICES. 

3 Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 

4 (47 U.S.C. 1302) is amended— 

5 (1) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub6 section (e) and inserting after subsection (c) the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘(d) STATE, LOCAL, AND PUBLIC-PRIVATE PART9 NERSHIP ADVANCED TELECOMMUNICATIONS CAPABILITY

10 AND SERVICES.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—No State statute, regula12 tion, or other State legal requirement may prohibit 

13 or have the effect of prohibiting any public provider 

14 or public-private partnership provider from pro15 viding, to any person or any public or private entity, 

16 advanced telecommunications capability or any serv17 ice that utilizes the advanced telecommunications ca18 pability provided by such provider. 

19 ‘‘(2) ANTIDISCRIMINATION SAFEGUARDS.— 

20 ‘‘(A) PUBLIC PROVIDERS.—To the extent 

21 any public provider regulates competing private 

22 providers of advanced telecommunications capa23 bility or services that utilize advanced tele24 communications capability, such public provider 

25 shall apply its ordinances and rules without dis26 crimination in favor of itself or any provider 


pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 2785 IH

1 that it owns of services that utilize advanced 

2 telecommunications capability. 

3 ‘‘(B) PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP PRO4 VIDERS.—To the extent any State or local enti5 ty that is part of a public-private partnership 

6 provider regulates competing private providers 

7 of advanced telecommunications capability or 

8 services that utilize advanced telecommuni9 cations capability, such State or local entity 

10 shall apply its ordinances and rules without dis11 crimination in favor of such public-private part12 nership provider or any provider that such 

13 State or local entity or public-private partner14 ship provider owns of services that utilize ad15 vanced telecommunications capability. 

16 ‘‘(3) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—Nothing in this sub17 section shall exempt a public provider or public-pri18 vate partnership provider from any Federal or State 

19 telecommunications law or regulation that applies to 

20 all providers of advanced telecommunications capa21 bility or services that utilize such advanced tele22 communications capability.’’; and 

23 (2) in subsection (e), as redesignated— 


pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 2785 IH

1 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 

2 by striking ‘‘this subsection’’ and inserting 

3 ‘‘this section’’; and 

4 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(3) PUBLIC PROVIDER.—The term ‘public pro6 vider’ means a State or local entity that provides ad7 vanced telecommunications capability, or any service 

8 that utilizes such advanced telecommunications ca9 pability, to any person or public or private entity. 

10 ‘‘(4) PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP PRO11 VIDER.—The term ‘public-private partnership pro12 vider’ means a public-private partnership, between a 

13 State or local entity and a private entity, that pro14 vides advanced telecommunications capability, or any 

15 service that utilizes such advanced telecommuni16 cations capability, to any person or public or private 

17 entity. 

18 ‘‘(5) STATE OR LOCAL ENTITY.—The term 

19 ‘State or local entity’ means a State or political sub20 division thereof, any agency, authority, or instru21 mentality of a State or political subdivision thereof, 

22 or an Indian tribe (as defined in section 4(e) of the 

23 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 

24 Act (25 U.S.C. 5304(e))).’’. 

Æ 


pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS